Past Present and in Between in Pictures (Part 1)

tyneside:
Line up of new Coles Cranes taken at the factory at Sunderland. I presume the ones with the T on the front are Thornycroft chassis but not sure what the other ones are, anybody any ideas??

Tyneside

I’d suggest they may not be new, but factory reconditioned and civilianised ex WD. The Thornys are the wartime type used extensively by the RAF, hard to be sure even when the picture is blown up but the others look like the WW2 Leyland Retriever/Coles used by the military but with a more modern cab fitted, as they originally had an open top canvas roof. The front axle set right forward is a typical prewar/wartime feature, but the cabs look '50s style. As well as the Retriever, several other makers e.g Albion, Karrier built a light six-wheeler to the same WD spec, but AFAIK only the Leyland was supplied from new with a factory fitted Coles crane. EDIT - just found some info suggesting the same crane was fitted to Crossley and Austin chassis, the same light 6 wheel WD spec as the Retriever, the Austin was bonneted the others forward control.
Bernard